Child&#39;s rocker swing



May 11, 1965 H. A. ROSS CHILD'S ROCKER SWING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 5, 1962 Fla.)

INVENTOR. Harry A Ross 3 BY ATTORNEY y 1,1965 H. A. RQSS I 3,183,035

CHILD'S ROCKER SWING Filed Dec. 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 e H6. 4 I w IN VENTOR. Harry A. Ross ATTORNEY United States Patent ()fiice 3,i33,35 Patented May 11-, 1965 3,183,035 cus noersnn swiNo Harry A. Ross, 2044 Locke Ave, Waterloo, Eowa Filed Dec. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 242,544

3 Claims. (or. 297-231) This invention relates to a childs rocker swing and has for an object to provide an improved childs rocker swing which is extremely stable and extremely safe in opertion while being used in that it eliminates the possibility of another child having its fingers or toes being rocked over and injured.

A further object of this invention is to provide a childs rocker swing which eliminates the rocking noise and marked floors, Walls and furniture which are familiar to those using the old type rocking horse.

A further object of this invention is to provide an extremely stable construction having an A-stand which may be placed on the floor in the proper manner adjacent a wall or door without leaving any marks on the wall, door, or floor.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a rocker swing which may be decoratively shaped substantially in the outline and appearance of any conventional means of transportation, whether an animal or a vehicle. a

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a childs rocker swing which is of knock-down construction so that it may be stored and packed for shipment in a minimum amount of space and which, when assembled, is extremely rugged and stable and practically impossible to overturn by a child sitting in it.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the childs rocker swing of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlargeddetail view on line 55 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an exploded isometric View of the pivot means assembly of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detailed view of modification of a foot for each of the legs.

There is shown at It) the knoclodown childs rocker swing of this invention consisting generally of an extremely stable support stand 12 and a rocker means 14.

The stand 12 consists of a pair of A-shaped frames 16 which, as will be observed, have two downwardly diverging legs 13 extending from a top apex 2t) and reinforced in braced apart relationship by a brace member 22 integrally secured thereto as by welding or the like. The bottom end of each leg 18 is provided with a foot 24 secured thereover and provided with a pad member 26, the under surface of which is provided with a suitable cushion pad 28 of a suitable resilient material which will not mark up or scuii the floor or other supporting surface 30 on which it may be placed. In FIG. 7, the leg 18 is shown as having a foot 32 in the form of a cushion cup of conventional construction such as is conventionally used on chair legs.

With the type of foot construction shown at 24, the foot may be placed on any suitable surface such as Ed and will be stable thereon due to the diverging angle of the A-frame 16 at the apex 20 so that in use as will hereinafter become apparent the rocker swing is extremely stable, the center of gravity remaining well between the diverging legs of each A-frame during use. It is not necessary and not contemplated that there will be any necessity of fastening the foot pads 26 to the floor or other surface 30, but in view of the fact that this may be used in certain locations where it may be desirable to keep it fixed in position and prevent it from being moved around, such as, for instance, in a public recreation area for children, the food pads 26 are provided with stud screw receiving apertures 32 which apertures do not necessarily extend through the pad cushion 28, unless and until a stud screw or other fastening means is placed through the apertures 32 to force a suitable aperture through the pad cushion 28.

At its apex it each A-frame it? is provided with a pivot cooperating transverse horizontal aperture 34, and brazed or welded to the bottom of the apex 2% is a spring anchor lug 36 having a transversely extending spring end receiving aperture 36'. The A-frame 16 are secured together in spaced apart parallel relationship by two crossbars 38 whose ends t? are concave shaped to fit against the sides of the legs 18 and are secured thereto by removable bolts 42 and nuts The rocker means ltd consists of two spaced apart vertically extending parallel rigid sheet members 4-5 here shown as shaped and decorated to represent a horse or pony, also collie dogs, lambs, Brahma bulls, it being apparent that the decoration will be in suitable colors and the decoration is repeated on both sides of each sheet member 45. The material of the sheet members 46 will preferably be tempered hardboard which, of course, is of substantial strength and rigidity but any other equivalent material may be used. Detachedl secured and extending between the two rigid sheet members 46 is a seat member 48, a back rest member St), a childs foot support member 52 and a handle bar 54.

The handle bar 5- 3 is detachedly secured between the sheet members 45 by stud screws 56 extending through the rigid sheet members 46 into threaded apertures in the ends of the handle bar 54-.

Each of the seat members 453, back rest member 559 and childsfoot support member 52 is secured between and to the rigid sheet members 46 by similar angle members 58, 58 and 58" ac each end of each of these members, the angle members 58, 58' and 58" being preferably riveted to the seat member 48, back rest member-5h and foot support bar member 52, respectively, so as to remain permanently attached thereto, and is detachedly secured to therigid sheet members 14 by suitable bolts and nuts at as extending through the angle members 5% and secured through and to the rigid sheet members 46. As thus secured, the rocker means 14 can be readily knocked down for shipping or storage and can be readily assembled into a rigid firm rocker means as shown.

There is shown at 62 the pivot suspending means which suspends the rocker 14 on the A-stands 12 and limits the arc of movement of the rocker. This pivot supporting means 62 consists of a pivot rod 64 having a head 66 formed thereon and retained within an anchor cup 68 provided with apertured flanges 70 which are detachably secured by means of bolts and nuts 72 extending through each respective rigid sheet member 46 as clearly illustrated in FIG. 5. About the pivot rod 64, there is placed a rigid copper bearing or bushing 74 which will extend from the cup 68 and through the aperture 34 in the apex 20.

If desired, a sleeve 76 may be brazed in position through the aperture 34 of apex 20 to provide a better bearing surface for the copper bushing 74 in the apex 20. The end of the pivot rod 64 is provided with a circumferential groove 78 for receiving a snap ring 30 therein to hold the bushing 74 in position. If desired, this snap ring may be of sufiiciently large diameter to abut the apex 20 and thus increase stability of the rigid sheet members 46 by preventing any diverging flexing of the upper portions of the rigid sheet member 46. Between the flanged cup 68 and the apex 20 there is a tension spring 82 coiled about the bushing 74 and having one end 84 bent at right angles to extend through and anchor in the aperture 38 of spring anchor lug 36. The other end of the coiled tension spring 82 is somewhat longer as at 36 and is offset at 88 to compensate for the depth of the cup 68 and then has a parallel portion 90 terminating in an anchor finger 92 which is placed in a suitable anchor aperture 94 in the rigid sheet member 46. A second aperture 96 receives a cotter pin 98 therethrough which has first been passed over the spring end portion 90 so as to firmly but removably anchor this portion against the rigid sheet member 46.

A leather stirrup simulating member 100 has an aperture 102 which is placed about the pivot assembly 62 before it is finally assembled and draped over the outside end of the pivot rod assembly 62 and over the apex 20 of the A-stand thus concealing both of them from view and also concealing the end of the anchor spring 84 from possible contact by another child.

In operation, the childs rocker swing may be shipped and stored in knocked-down position and be readily assembled by the recipient or user by merely fastening the appropriate bolts and nuts through their proper portions in accordance with suitable instructions which may accompany the swing. As thus finally assembled, it is placed on any suitable floor at 30 and the child sits on the seat member 48 resting his feet on the foot support member 52 and holding the handle bar 54 to support himself, if necessary. In addition, a halter or rein 104 may extend between the two head simulating portions 106 of the horse or pony here represented and hang over the handle bar 54 to be held by the child during play.

The coil spring 52, as thus assembled, is tensioned to resiliently resist the pivoting movement in either direction from the at rest position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 and thus serves to limit the arc of movement of the rocker when in operation and prevents the liability of the child rocking the rocker 12 too violently and cooperating with the extremely wide divergent position of the feet 26 insures safety and stability.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A childs knock-down rocker swing comprising, in

combination, a pair of vertically extending A-frames in spaced apart parallel relationship, the apex of each A- frame having a bearing aperture extending transversely therethrough, a reinforcing lug secured to the bottom of each said apex, the bottom ends of the legs of said A- frames having feed thereon adapted to rest on a floor surface, a cross bar detachably securing each leg of each said A-frame to the parallel leg of the other A-frame adjacent their lower foot ends, a rocker means comprising a pair of spaced apart vertically extending parallel rigid sheet members, seat, back, and foot support means extending between said parallel rigid sheet members, each having cleats detachably secured to said rigid sheet members, said cleats securing said rigid sheet members in spaced apart relationship a less distance than the distance between said A-frames, said rocker means fitting between said A-frames, pivot rods detachably secured to said rigid sheet members, each pivot rod extending through said bearing aperture in the adjacent A-frame apex and suspending said rocker means between them, and a tension spring tightly coiled on each pivot rod between the rigid sheet member and the A-frame apex, said coiled springs limiting the rocking arc of said rocker means on said pivot rods, each coil spring having one end removably extending into an anchor aperture extending transversely through the adjacent apex reinforcing lug and having its other end removably extending transversely into an anchor aperture in the adjacent rigid sheet member, said springs thus being normally inaccessible to a child occupant in said rocker means.

2. The combination of claim 1, and a pivot rod end concealing member having an aperture at one end through which the pivot rod extends between the A-frame apex and the rigid sheet member, said rod end concealing member being draped over the rod end and down from the A-frame apex.

3. The combination of claim 1, and a bushing about each pivot rod extending through said bearing aperture in said A-frame apex, said coil spring extending about said bushing on said rod, and a snap ring on the pivot rod end extending through said apex bearing aperture retaining said bushing thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 444,355 1/91 Henderickson 248-383 1,275,757 8/ 18 Rosenberg 272-5 8 2,061,527 11/36 Sweet 272-525 X 2,537,399 1/51 Doris 272--54 2,812,943 11/57 Harter 27253.2

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Examiner. 

1. A CHILD''S KNOCK-DOWN ROCKER SWING COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OF VERTICALLY EXTENDING A-FRAMES IN SPACED APART PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP, THE APEX OF EACH AFRAME HAVING A BEARING APERTURE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THERETHROUGH, A REINFORCING LUG SECURED TO THE BOTTOM OF EACH SAID APEX, THE BOTTOM ENDS OF THE LEGS OF SAID AFRAMES HAVING FEED THEREON ADAPTED TO REST ON A FLOOR SURFACE, A CROSS BAR DETACHABLY SECURING EACH LEG OF EACH SAID A-FRAME TO THE PARALLEL LEG OF THE OTHER A-FRAME ADJACENT THEIR LOWER FOOT ENDS, A ROCKER MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED APART VERTICALLY EXTENDING PARALLEL RIGID SHEET MEMBERS, SEAT, BACK, AND FOOT SUPPORT MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID PARALLEL RIGID SHEET MEMBERS, EACH HAVING CLEATS DETACHABLY SECURED TO SAID RIGID SHEET MEMBERS, SAID CLEATS SECURING SAID RIGID SHEET MEMBERS IN SPACED APART RELATIONSHIP A LESS DISTANCE THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID A-FRAMES, SAID ROCKER MEANS FITTING BETWEEN SAID A-FRAMES, PIVOT RODS DETACHABLY SECURED TO SAID RIGID 